


Sick

by DangerRollins



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Fluff, Gen, M/M, carl hates soup, negan does too, they both suck when they're sick
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-28
Updated: 2018-03-28
Packaged: 2019-04-14 03:25:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,410
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14127057
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DangerRollins/pseuds/DangerRollins
Summary: Carl and Negan are insufferable when sick.





	Sick

Rick didn't know what to do, what to think, or how to feel at this point. Sure, there had been many times before when he just didn't see a way out of a situation and he'd still managed to make it out mostly okay, but he had a feeling this wouldn't be one of those times.

"I can't leave her with you, I couldn't." He shook his head, a tiny smile forming on his lips as he tried not to seem alarmed. "We're just now getting on good terms, I can't start putting her on you this early." He let out a small laugh, trying to convey it as a joke, but Negan saw right through him. The man was scared, terrified even. He and Negan had decided a week ago that they'd try to work together as equals rather than Negan storming in and taking half their shit for no reason other than that they could. Rick was relieved that he'd managed to make a deal with Negan that didn't include his people dying when he didn't get what he wanted, but he still didn't fully trust the man. How could he?

And now here he was, offering to take care of Judith like it was a casual thing, like it was something he did all the time, and Rick didn't know what to do. He really didn't have much of a choice here. There seemed to be a problem with some of his people. They needed his help—Something to do with the gates—And he needed to go figure out what was going on. He'd take Judith with him if he felt like he was just going to talk to somebody and see what was going on, but he knew that wasn't the case. There was trouble and it'd probably get chaotic, there was no avoiding that, and he didn't want her around that.

"The boy with the—" Negan gestured towards his eye and chuckled as Rick narrowed his eyes at him, frustration and impatience evident on his face. "—He'll be here too. He can watch me watching Judith!"

Rick shrugged his shoulders a little. Carl was sick as a dog and wasn't allowed to get too close to Judith right now. He couldn't take care of her on his own, but maybe he **could** watch Negan—

Rick shook his head. This was stupid. He'd rather she get sick than spend the day with Negan. No telling what Negan would teach her while he was gone.

Rick trusted that Negan wouldn't hurt his daughter, he seemed to have a soft side when it came to her and he had never even insinuated that he'd hurt her, and now that they were on the same page and had formed some type of alliance, there was no need for him to anyways. Still, Negan as a babysitter? It was unsettling.

However, it seemed to be the only option.

Tara and Carol were on a run, Olivia was sick as well, Michonne was resting because she'd had a long watch shift, Daryl, Eric, and Aaron were busy trying to fix some vehicles, Abraham was busy looking after an injured Rosita, Enid and Maggie were at the hilltop—Everybody was busy except for Negan.

Rick stared at Negan for a moment before letting out a long sigh, one that made Negan's grin grow wider. "Don't swear around her too much, don't let her get too close to Carl, but I want Carl in the room with you two at all times. Don't overfeed her, but don't forget to feed her, don't let her pressure you into playing all day, okay? She's very persuasive, she's got big eyes, but just—She's bossy. She's got a limited vocabulary, but the word 'play' is in it and she's bossy. Don't let her make you play all day. And Carl, he'll tell you we don't have any soup, but we do. There's like ten cans in the cabinet." Rick warned.

"Oh calm down, we'll be fine! We'll have a good time, but not too good of a time, and I'll make sure that both your kids stay alive and well! Daddy Negan's got this!"

Rick nodded curtly before turning on his heels to walk out, having already said his goodbyes to Carl who he'd promised he'd find someone to look after him and his sister. Rick didn't wanna stick around to see Carl's reaction when he found out that he was being looked after by Negan.

"I'll be back as soon as I can!"

With that, Rick was out the door, praying that he'd return home and still have two mostly healthy kids.

***  
"You can't be serious." Carl narrowed his eyes as he climbed out of his bed slowly, his legs weak and his vision blurry. "My dad wouldn't leave me with...With you." His voice trembled, unsure.

"Oh, but he would, young serial killer." Negan grinned as he bounced Judith on his hip. "He didn't have any other options and he had to get going. He'll be back soon enough. In the meantime, you and Judy here get to hang out with daddy Negan—" Carl cringed and then started coughing. "—I don't know what you're so worried about. I'm perfectly capable of taking care of you two, and really, who would you rather be hanging out with?"

"The dead." Carl gritted out before coughing again. "Look, I can't talk much. Every time I do—" His strained voice turned into yet another cough, this one sounding worse than the others. Judith giggled at her brother's pain as Negan winced, stepping back quickly when Carl came a little too close. Carl let his loud coughing finish the sentence for him. "—And I'd prefer you not talk so much either." He mumbled.

Negan watched as Carl waddled out of his room, looking like he would fall out at any time, and headed toward the living room. He shrugged his shoulders a little before following after him. "Me? Not talking? I don't think so." He teased. "We're all gonna have a good day today, alright?" Negan grinned. Judith nodded, a large smile on her face. "Play."

"Your dad warned me about you." He narrowed his eyes as he pointed at her. "We'll play soon enough. For now, we should get you and your brother fed. Hmm?"

"I'm not hungry." Carl nearly whined. His voice was hard to hear, considering he was lying face down on the couch and was already unable to speak loudly due to his coughing fits. Negan sat Judith down on the floor in front of the couch, allowing her to play with some of the toys there as he made his way to the kitchen to fix Carl's food first. "Too bad! You wanna get your strength back you need to eat some soup—"

"We don't have soup."

"Oh?" Negan grinned as he pulled out a can of chicken soup. "What's this in the cabinet—"

"Not soup." Carl fibbed.

"You turn into a terrible liar when you're sick, I'll tell you that."

***

Carl eyed Judith as he watched her messily eat her chicken noodle soup. She'd asked for some of his as soon as Negan had fixed it, and usually he'd share with her, but of course, right now he was sick and couldn't. They'd both assumed that she'd quit asking if they told her no enough, but her little mind was set on eating the same thing her big brother was, so Negan eventually gave in and made her a small bowl. She was already halfway finished with it, apparently enjoying the disgusting taste. Carl had barely touched his, only eating two spoon fulls in the last ten minutes.

"Eat the soup, kid. Your little sister is tearing into that shit like it's the last piece of chocolate cake in the world and it's gonna be ripped away from her in a matter of seconds if she doesn't finish it quick enough. Why can't you be as mature as her?"

Judith giggled and turned to face Carl for only a second before turning back to her soup. Carl rolled his eyes and shook his head at Negan before putting his bowl on the floor and sinking down on the couch.

"I'm not eating it. I hate chicken soup, I always have. I'll get better eventually with or without eating it. I'd rather go without it."

"Chicken soup speeds up the process. Aren't you sick of being sick?"

"No."

Negan rolled his eyes and rubbed a hand down his face. "Carl, Rick is trusting me to take care of you and your sister. I'm trying to make things more...Comfortable between us. I have a long, long, **long** way to go, but you eating your damn soup is a good damn start. Please?" He damn near begged.

Carl narrowed his eye and crossed his arms over his chest. He stared Negan down for a few moments, the man keeping his facial expression soft and pleading. Carl rolled his eye after a few moments before picking his bowl back up.

"Just so you'll quit whining." He grumbled.

"Thank you, kid."

"Whatever."

"Your brother is pretty nice when he wants to be, isn't he Judy?" Negan grinned, noticing her staring at him. She nodded and giggled before climbing off the couch.

"Good damn start."

Carl and Negan both stared at her, wide eyed and open mouthed before looking at each other.

"N-No, ma'am, that's a curse word. We don't say that." Negan shook his head quickly, holding his arms out to her and allowing her to crawl into his lap. She looked at him, seemingly confused. "Good?" She questioned. He shook his head.

"Damn."

"Damn." She confirmed. "Damn," She grinned widely. Negan let out a slow, nervous breath. Rick was gonna have his ass on a god damn stick.

**********

"I don't want this, I want the spaghetti that I know is still in the fridge." Negan whined as his glassy eyes met Carl's. Carl huffed and set the tray on the bed next to Negan before crossing his arms over his chest. " **Negan**." He started, his eyes rolling up toward the ceiling as he tried to keep his tone of voice light. "As I mentioned before—" Two hundred times before, Carl could swear. "You can't have spaghetti today. You have to eat the chicken soup I spent so much time making for you." He spoke slowly, in a voice that he often used to talk with Judith, hoping that it'd get his message across.

"You poured this out of a can, into a bowl, and then you put it in a microwave." Negan narrowed his eyes. "And it's still cold."

"That's more time than I wanted to spend on fixing you anything." Carl huffed. "Look, dad told me not to let you eat anything other than chicken soup, so, you're not eating anything other than chicken soup. It's just that simple."

"What he doesn't know won't kill him."

"It'll kill me!" Carl argued. "You know I suck at lying to him! Even if I didn't, he was a cop. He always knows everything...If you wanna get better, you need to eat your soup."

Negan pouted as he pushed the tray further away from him and then slid down in the bed. "No." He muttered. Carl rubbed his eyes tiredly, trying not to explode. "Fine. You don't have to eat it, but you won't be eating anything else, either. Starve. I don't care."

"So, Rick would rather you starve me than feed me spaghetti? Is that what you're saying?"

Carl bit the inside of his cheek as he let out a breath from his nose. The last thing he wanted to be doing today was tending to a sick and whiny Negan, but here he was.

Negan had been staying at Alexandria with them for the past few days, coming for one of his monthly visits. He only came once a month now, not really needing to show up any more than that since he was no longer taking their shit. He only came because he wanted to make sure the community he was working so closely with these days was doing alright and not in desperate need of anything...Also because he enjoyed seeing Rick and his little family, but--But that was beside the point.

Usually, he'd only stay a day or two before heading back to the sanctuary, but this time he'd had to stay a while longer. The day he arrived he hadn't been feeling well, and the next day he was throwing up all over the place and burning up too. He was too sick to get out of bed; he couldn't possibly make it back to the sanctuary feeling the way he was.

Rick had told him it was okay for him to stay in his house until he got to feeling better. As much as he hated to admit it, he and Negan were quickly becoming...Acquaintances. He wanted Negan to not die, at the very least, so taking care of him seemed like the best option.

Carl himself had warmed up to Negan by now as well, but that didn't mean he was happy to have the loud man in his house for days on end, especially not while he was behaving like a toddler instead of a grown ass man.

"Remember a few months ago when I was sick and you forced me to eat my soup? The tables have turned." Carl smirked a little. "You can either eat the soup or I can **make** you eat the soup."

"You're not gonna make me do shit, kid." Negan coughed before sitting up and reaching for his water. Carl ripped it away from his fingertips before raising a brow. "You can barely stand up straight, so you're not gonna be able to chase me around the house for this." He grinned. "Either you eat that soup or I let you die of dehydration."

"Give me my water you little shit!"

Carl walked across the room and sat in the metal chair across from the bed, crossing his arms over his chest and resting one leg over the other. "Humans can only go like a week without water. I've got time."

Negan let out a frustrated sigh before grabbing the bowl of soup and placing it on his lap.

"I'm telling Rick," he grumbled to himself.

"Good for you."


End file.
